UNDERSTAND CONTRACTUAL, LEGAL AND ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS IN THE TELEVISION AND FILM INDUSTRIES GC3
Dec 06, 2014
UNDERSTAND CONTRACTUAL,
LEGAL AND ETHICAL
OBLIGATIONS IN THE TELEVISION
AND FILM INDUSTRIES
GC3
OVERVIEW
You need to consider whether or not there could be any legal,
contractual or ethical issues as a result of your production.
If a company fails to follow good practice, the law could be
broken and that company might end up in a tribunal or even
court.
Producers, their crew and even learners and people on work
experience need to be aware of various contractual, legal and
ethical obligations.
CONTRACTS
Contracts are legal agreements that relate to your
own terms of employment.
If you are offered any contract, read it carefully. You
need to be clear about:
• What you are being asked to do
• When you will be required to work
• What payment you will receive.
CONTRACTS
A contract of employment will typically have ‘small
print’. You will need to scrutinise any clauses (short
paragraphs) to check you understand the
implications of what you are signing.
• Confidentiality clauses and exclusivity
clauses are common in film and television
industry contracts. Find out what these mean.
EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION
The Equality Act
Discrimination on grounds of race, gender or age is
illegal. This is likely to be a consideration when
employing staff, cast and crew and when
individuals, groups and related issues
are depicted on screen.
BBC’s Countryfile presenter Miriam O'Reilly was awarded £150K after being sacked for 'too old'
EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION
The Equality Act 2010 replaced:
• Equal Pay Act 1970
• Sex Discrimination Act 1975
• Race Relations Act 1976
• Disability Discrimination Act 1995
• Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003
• Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations
2003[5]
• Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.
EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION
Equal Opportunities
Equal opportunities employers aim to recruit fairly
and they produce codes of practice that evidence
that they comply with The Equality Act.
EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION
Employers and Employees
Employers are responsible for the safety and
wellbeing of their employees.
They are liable for any physical or emotional harm
as well as any employee acts or omissions whilst
in their employment.
EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATIONHealth and Safety
Employers are responsible for the health and safety of their
employees while they are at work. Employees may be injured at
work or they, or former employees, may become ill as a result of
their work while in your employment.
They can claim compensation if they believe the employer is
responsible.
The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 ensures
a minimum level of insurance cover against any such claims.
EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION
Trade Unions
As you know from unit 1, trade unions exist to
protect the rights and interests of workers. You
have to be a member of a union to get those
benefits so members pay yearly fees. BECTU’s
freelance membership cost is currently £120.
ETHICAL ISSUES
Codes of practice are not part of the law. They exist usually to
protect the consumer or the citizen and have a powerful role in
television and film.
Employers are responsible for drawing up policies,
procedures and codes of practice that are specific to
individual institutions.
CoP are designed to promote good practice and to avoid legal
issues ‘down the line’.
ETHICAL ISSUES
Representation
The way in which people, places and events are
represented in media can be problematic. As you know
from the factual programming unit, audience opinion on
certain topics is easily manipulated depending on the way
the media portrays it.
Think about Amy Winehouse and the fluctuating press
she got.
ETHICAL ISSUES
Social Concerns
Through media representation, audiences can favour or
reject a person, group of people, place, event, etc.
Some have argued that the media can create, or
exacerbate social problems.
Think about the way you as youths
are represented by the media;
how do you think older generations
view you?
LEGAL ISSUESRegulators
A regulatory body exists to create and enforce rules based on law.
Their main aims are to protect viewers and promote healthy competition
between organisations.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
The BBC had its own Code of Practice, and, as you know, also issues its own
production guidelines for the programmes it commissions.
LEGAL ISSUES
The Office of Communications (Ofcom)
Ofcom is Britain’s media regulator and is required by
The Communications Act (2003) and The Broadcasting
Act (1990) to draw up a code that they then enforce.
Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code sets standards for
British broadcasting.
LEGAL ISSUES
• Protecting the Under-Eighteens
• Harm and Offence
• Crime
• Religion
• Due Impartiality and Due Accuracy
and Undue Prominence of Views and
Opinions
• Elections and Referendums
• Fairness
• Privacy
• Commercial References in Television
Programming
• Commercial Communications in
Radio Programming
The Ofcom Broadcasting Code
The Ofcom Broadcasting Code is made up of 10 main sections:
Look specifically at the underlined sections when completing the final task.
LEGAL ISSUES
Obscenity
Lawyers may be needed to check whether a production
infringes The Obscene Publications Act (1959).
Factors such as the age range of the audience and the
time a production is broadcast can affect whether or not
the material is deemed obscene. The American version of Skins was
criticised in America for being obscene. The first US series opened with scenes of nudity in which the actors were under 21.
LEGAL ISSUES
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)
The BBFC is an independent body which classifies
films and videos in terms of age suitability.
Go to the website and look at the criteria they use to
judge boundaries for certification.
LEGAL ISSUES
Intellectual Property (IP)
IP results from the expression of an idea; it might be a brand, an
invention, a design, a song or another intellectual creation. IP
can be owned, bought and sold.
Intellectual Property lets people own the work they create.
The internet has made intellectual property (IP) a huge issue,
for example, the unauthorised use of copyright material on
YouTube and illegal video downloads.
LEGAL ISSUES
Copyright
Copyright protects written, theatrical, musical and
artistic works as well as film, book layouts, sound
recordings, and broadcasts.
Copyright protects a piece of written or recorded
work from being copied or used by anyone else
without the copyright owner’s permission.
LEGAL ISSUES
When you plan and produce a media product, you
must comply with copyright law. By using your own
or copyright-free material or by clearing and paying
for rights to use copyright material, you are not at
risk of infringement.
Failure to seek permission can (and usually does)
result in legal dispute.
ACTIVITY: GC3
Task: Read the attached job advertisement.
Do you think it is appropriate?
Write a letter in response to the job advert, be sure
to point out any areas which contradict contractual,
ethical and legal issues that we have just looked at.